Brexit Statement from The Pen Warehouse & Snap Products

To our customers,

With the latest deadline being extended, it would seem that we will not have any clarity on whether a free-trade deal can be struck between the EU and the UK prior to the Christmas shut-down. It looks likely that the actual deadline will now be the end of this month. As these vital decisions will be made during the holiday period we would like to offer some peace of mind to our Distributors before we close for the Christmas break.

Stock:

We do not rely on any EU based suppliers for stock. It is all either manufactured on our premises or imported from The Far-East. We hold over 30 million pens in our UK warehouse at any one time and have forward orders on the sea or in manufacture to carry us through until mid 2021. Snap Products manufacture several lines in-house such as hand sanitisers, floor graphics and transfers and we hold enough raw materials to see us through to the end of 2021 and beyond. All other products from Snap are held in stock in our UK warehouse in large volumes with forward orders either on the sea or in manufacture in the Far-East.

Printing and Finishing

We carry out all printing and finishing on our premises here in Hampshire and nothing is subcontracted to UK, EU or Far-Eastern suppliers. This includes screen printing, pad printing, ceramic printing, direct digital, DTG, laser engraving on wood and metal, transfer manufacturing & application, doming, packaging, cutting and creasing, label manufacture and many more processes too numerous to list. Having everything under one roof here in the UK allows us to guarantee on-time levels of services irrespective of the outcome of trade negotiations with the EU.

Prices:

In a worst-case scenario of a no-deal we should not be adversely affected by any WTO tariffs as these are already factored-in for our Far-East products. We’ve also  bought forward enough foreign currency to see us through to the final quarter of 2021 so any fluctuations in exchange rates as a consequence of a UK exit from the EU should be minimal. Therefore, we expect to be able to maintain our current prices well into 2021 and probably beyond.

Disruption Management:

In the event of a no-deal Brexit many are predicting delays at the points of sea entry to the UK for goods arriving from the EU, particularly in early 2021. The associated congestion may also affect the speed at which goods arriving from outside of the EU can clear customs and we are conscious of this fact. This aspect of a no-deal Brexit remains a challenge for all of us. However, to mitigate some of this risk we have invested heavily in stock as we approached the end of the year and in some cases, where it is feasible, we intend to fly in stock at our expense as we anticipate that airports will be less affected by congestion.

Conclusion:

In the event of a no-deal Brexit it would be prudent to anticipate some severe challenges with regard to importation of goods from the Eurozone but less so from other parts of the world. As we do not purchase any of our goods from the Eurozone and we are well stocked on our popular ranges we believe we have taken every affordable step to mitigate the likely problems that port congestion can cause. Furthermore, if prices are required to be increased in response to any changes, we will guarantee to hold our 2021 prices until the middle of the year so that our distributors can plan for a successful year ahead.

Sincerely,

Neil Cleere

Managing Director